Southside Speakers 28th March 2013 - 6:45 for 7pm - 9:30 pm Pollokshields Burgh Hall, is the International Speech and the Evaluation Contest. 

Southside Speakers  Table Topics and Humorous Speech  club contest - 2nd Thursday in September 2013 6:45 for 7pm -9:30pm Pollokshields Burgh Hall, Maxwell Park, 70 Glencairn Drive, Glasgow G41 4LL - All welcome

Speech contests provide the opportunity for competitive speaking and showcase the best. Contestants start at Club level and work their way up through Area and then Division to District level. The International Speech Contest also goes on to worldwide level to determine the 'World Champion of Public Speaking'.

There are five types of contest, but each District may hold no more than four of these types. The five types are:

*International Speech Contest - 5 to 7 minutes. The speech can be any subject at all, serious or humorous, so long as it's original. In August, District winners go to the International Convention where they compete in Semi-Finals then, if successful, the World Final. Competitors in the Word Final must deliver a different speech, as determined by a majority of five Qualifying Judges who are separate from the normal judges.

* Table Topics Contest - 1 to 2 minutes. Impromptu speaking. All contestants are taken out of the room and brought back in one by one to speak on the same topic. Thereby a contestant does not hear any other constestant's speech before delivering their own. The topic should be general in nature and not require specialised knowledge. Goes as far as District level.

* Evaluation Contest - 2 to 3 minutes. A target speaker gives a speech which all the evaluation contestants are to evaluate. The contestants are taken from the room and given five minutes to prepare their speeches and make notes. Then, their notes are taken away and they are brought back into the room one by one (at which time each contestant gets his/her notes back) to deliver the evaluation of the target speech. Thereby a contestant does not hear any other constestant's evaluation before delivering their own. Goes as far as District level. March and April each year.

* Humorous Speech Contest - 5 to 7 minutes. An original speech with humour value, but also displaying good speechmaking abilities. Goes as far as District level. * Tall Tales Contest - 3 to 5 minutes. An original, highly improbable, humorous tale. For Wikipedia's definition of a Tall Tale see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_tale Goes as far as District level.

Time disqualifications: Contestants are disqualifed if they fall short of the minimum times, or exceed the maximum times, shown below.

International Speech Contest: minimum 4.5 minutes; maximum 7.5 minutes
Table Topics Contest: minimum 1.0 minute; maximum 2.5 minutes
Evaluation Contest: minumum 1.5 minutes; maximum 3.5 minutes
Humorous Speech Contest: minimum 4.5 minutes; maximum 7.5 minutes

You will notice that the disqualification timings are thirty seconds either side of the speech time parameters - except for Table Topics, where contestants must speak for at least one minute to avoid disqualification.

Eligibility District and International officers cannot compete at all, and you cannot enter the International Speech Contest until you have done six CC speeches (unless a charter member of a club chartered since the beginning of the Toastmasters year). Anyone else may compete provided they: are a member in good standing - that means renewals for the member have been paid by the club to WHQ on time (60 day grace period applicable); and enter on behalf of a Club in good standing - that means renewals for at least 6 members have been paid by the Club to WHQ on time (no grace period applicable).

When the contests take place Toastmasters International simply require District-level Evaluation, Humorous and International Speech contests to be held by June. District 71 hold the following contests:

Autumn - Humorous Speech and Table Topics - 

Spring - International Speech and Evaluation Contests